Tile

Flooring, yea!

Every day is a little closer to finishing.

Funny, at the beginning of this process,

 my husband and I told our architect, "...oh, we're not in a hurry..."

Hm..

Well, let me tell you...we're in a hurry now!

It's been 8 months since the slab was poured and we are anxious for this project to be completed!

Not to mention a contracted "move out date."

Ugh...

Ok, so let's talk about tile:

In keeping with our new "vintage" home, 

flooring was next.

Throughout most of the house we're putting in wood.

But for the bathrooms, I wanted tile.

Scouring through pictures, we decided on hexagonal tile.

My installer said that it was, "labor intensive"...

hm...

Yes, keeping the lines vertical and horizontal takes precision.

But, I think he's doing a great job.

{Are some of these pictures blurry or is it my eyes...hm, I think they are blurry.

Sorry, I guess I was just too excited over this tile!}

Up next: countertops.

A Few Details..

If you saw my post on transoms, you saw the beautiful design above the doorway in our new home.
The design I originally wanted was the Regent pattern.

source

However, having the individual pieces made was out of my budget.
So we went with plan B and had this made.



I love it and it looks beautiful!

Then I had an idea.
In my butler's pantry, I was having clear glass doors installed.
And, somewhere in blogland I remember seeing someone who made "faux" leaded glass windows.
Really?
Would something like that work for my doors?
Well, after a quick search, I found this site:
Linda over at It all Started with Paint gives a great tutorial on her window.
Looks easy enough...
I think I could do this, plus mine was a step or two easier.

Alright, here's one door ready for experimenting:

clear glass, cleaned and ready for measuring.

I measured my exact inside dimensions and began drawing my pattern.

Next, I placed the pattern on the underside of the glass, securing it with painters tape.

This was the product recommended.
It's found at Amazon.com. You can find it here.

There's 33ft per roll with about 1/8" in width.
{The instructions stated that it can be cut lengthwise in half...and that will double your overall length.}
The lead is actually a bright silver color, but I'm thinking that over time it will turn darker due to oxidation.
Included is a plastic tool that you'll use to seal the strips.

I cut my strips according to the pattern and then snipped the ends to fit as needed.
You kinda have a play with it a bit and decide about your cuts.
Peel off the adhesive strip and put in place.
I overlapped the ends a little to give the piece that soldering look
and then "smooshed" the ends together with the plastic tool.
The lead strip is forgiving...if you mess up, just pry it up and re-position.

Here's a finished door:

I think it's going to be alright...not a real leaded glass piece, but darn close.

On to the next door, four in all...same pattern, same strategy.

And here they are in their new spot...

I'm liking it.
Up next: tile

This post is part of a series, if you'd like to start at the beginning, click here.

I'm joining Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch for her Metamorphosis Monday.
Be sure to drop by for amazing transformations!

A Wonderful Surprise!

Look what was in my mailbox today:

Yes, this gorgeous package from Rachel Stewart.

{Don't you love beautiful packaging?!}

Rachel, over at Blue Finch sent me these beautiful earrings. 

They are so dainty, just perfect!

They will be great with jeans or with my favorite black dress.

Yes, they can go casual or formal...I just love them.

Rachel and I met a few weeks ago at

 "Grow Your Blog." 

It was a wonderful experience to meet all different kinds of bloggers

and grow our blogs as well.

{Thanks again to Vicki over at Two Bags Full for hosting this party,

it was a lot of fun!}

Ok, back to Rachel, and her gorgeous handcrafted creations...

you just have to stop by and see for yourself.

www.bluefinch.co

and wait till you see her workspace...click here.

Wow!!

So to Rachel, thank you, thank you, thank you for sending such beautiful earrings my way.

I'll cherish them!

Paint...

Thrilled...

yes thrilled to see the trim, walls, and cabinets painted.

Makes me feel that things are really progressing.

Progressing to the point that this project is over-the-proverbial-bump,

that it's progressing to the point that it's soon to be our new home.

Really?

Really.

The trim above the exterior windows were completed.

 And above the front door.

Here's the shot of the front with the shutters painted and secured.

My goal was to have a horizontal line from the windows to doors...extra trim needed to be added to the door.

In the space directly above the door transom, we're going to add the house address, thanks to a suggestion from my mother...she always has good ideas!

Another goal on the front was to replicate the look of French doors...

I think we're fairly close.

Things were busy, busy in the house.

See all those drawers?

My trim guy just cringed...he had already put all the drawer glides on them, but the painters took them off.

whoops.

Those drawers belong in the kitchen...

...but they all went back just fine, with a little adjustment.

Trim: Sherwin Williams Pure White

  

Walls: Sherwin Williams, Eider White.

Up next: a few details

"Stuff" part 2

So if you've been following along about our new house adventures, 

you know that I confessed to having "stuff". 

You can read about it here.

Well, if the truth were to be told, my husband has "stuff" too.

I'm  not the only guilty party.

He really doesn't like to admit it, but he has a lot of "stuff."

I have fun stuff like dishes and linens and shells and crafts.

He has BIG stuff like machinery and cars and of course a lot of tools.

You see, he's a "Mr. Fix-It"...it just kinda comes with the title.

One of the things he loves to do is to work with wood.

Because of this, he has just about every woodworking tool known to mankind. 

Some he's acquired himself and some are from my father.

You see, my father was the original woodworker in our family...and he had tools.

Tools and tools and tools.

That was his business so he was always trying out the latest and greatest.

So, to store all the stuff treasures, my husband needed a place to handle everything

... and a space to work with his hobbies.

Do you see that grey building at the back of the property?

Yep, that's his shop.

It's kinda his pride and joy.

Here is the side view...

It's a great space for him to do "his thing."

Big enough for storage, a workshop area, or as I see it, a "Barn Dance Hall!"

I'm excited for him, he's wanted this space f.o.r.e.v.e.r.

Up next...interior paint.

.

Transoms...

If you've been following along, you know we're building a new home...

actually a new "old" home.

So, in planning, the details were important.

One detail that we've always loved are transoms.

I love the way they allow light to filter into a room...and historically, air flow was very important.

source

Some were really fancy...just for show.

source

I think they add so much to a space.

So, in the plans they went.

We put them on the front windows...

the back master windows...

the breakfast room windows...

and above the front doors.

Then we decided to add a last one to the interior.

We really wanted a vintage transom, one with a history, so we looked and looked.

You can read about our search here.

However, since we couldn't find the correct size, we just decided to have one made.

Luckily, my mother is the queen of shopping and she just happened to have a name of a guy.

He was precious...and apparently had been working with glass a very long time.

He's truly an artist, an expert in his field.

We decided on this design:

It comes in pieces already cut, a huge cost saver, and he puts them together.

Well, when I saw the finished product, I was thrilled!

And here it is in place.

It's gonna be great!

Up next...my husbands "stuff".

Sold!

Our house has sold...

it's bittersweet.

The house that we picked out...

the house we watched being built...

the house that holds a ton of memories...

the house that kept us safe, warm, and dry.

We've loved this place,

and it served us well.

However, it's time for us to move on to new adventures...

time for a new family to love and care for this home.

So to my lovely "old" home...

"...thanks for the memories..."